Sulphur left on ground, in water at Lincoln Park in Port Angeles; not expected to have an impact

Port Angeles Police Officer Allen Brusseau and Jim Swenson, park caretaker, investigate a spill of sulphur powder in Lincoln Park. The spill was centered in a small pile in the grass, but was spread across a 30-foot area and into two pond areas. — Arwyn Rice/Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES — A possible sulphur dump at Lincoln Park’s fishing and duck pond is under investigation by the state Department of Ecology, but the non-toxic spill isn’t expected to cause damage to the local environment, according to city officials.

A yellow substance was reported be scattered between the pond and adjacent wetlands in Lincoln Park at about 3 p.m. Sunday, and was cleaned up by 3 p.m. Monday.

Port Angeles fire department, parks department and police officers responded to the site Sunday, and found several large patches of grass and road covered in yellow crystals and dust, trailing into the water on both sides of the access road.

On Monday, Ecology officials used a mobile laboratory to identify the yellow substance as sulphur, with elements of sand an other soils, indicating that it was part of a fertilizer mix.

“All of it together probably added up to about a pound,” said Cory Delicat, director of Port Angeles Parks and Recreation.

It was not known who dumped the sulphur, and why anyone would dump the lumpy yellow mix in the park is a mystery, Delicat said.

The amounts in the water were not expected to harm fish, and will remain in place until the water recedes low enough for crews to reach it, he said.

Jim Swenson, park caretaker, said Sunday that the crystals in the water did not seem to be dissolving,” said.

Swenson said he thought the sulphur had been on the ground for a while, since some of the crystals were ground into the muddy soil.